ABC Sam
by Lip Balm
Summary: [Benny and Joon] Joon decides that perhaps the time is right to teach Sam how to read and write a bit more. Sam, on the other hand, had other ideas to get across. [ONESHOT. No more chapters]


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This is a /one shot/ fan fiction. Sam is a pretty hard character to really understand, in _Benny and Joon, _he is such a quiet fellow that I couldn't really guess on what he was going to say in certain situations. And then that's it. He probably wouldn't say anything until after a moment or two, eh?

Review please. 

Lip Balm

/ / / 

Sam awoke from his slumber to the familiar sound of a whirring blender in the next room. Swinging his legs from the squashy top region of the couch, Sam stifled a yawn and got up from this current sitting position. Working his way around a mass of manila colored papers with dark charcoal marks on them, he sauntered over towards the exit and turned slightly with a smile. It was evident that Joon was drawing him while he slept again. _Goodness, he cherished that girl._

Benny had agreed to let them live together, at least for now. And Sam didn't think that it was ever going to change, after all, it was almost a year that they had been sharing a room together. 

Being the rather overprotecting character that he is, Benny was a bit hard to negotiate with. But they got what they wanted in the end, a roof over both their heads. Though the apartment complex was rather small, it was a place called home for both of them. Ruthie lived just down the hall from them, and they would visit her often. Most of the time, the visits were accompanied with bits of tapioca and coffee. Joon was safe in Sam's arms, and frankly, it wasn't the death grip that Benny would often hold on her. 

But Benny seemed content with the two living together after a few weeks, he would visit often, him and Ruthie together, holding hands and exchanging smiles. 

"Good morning, Sam," Joon said without looking up from her milk/cereal drink which sloshed inside the glass as she sipped it. Placing the glass down right next to a coaster, she smiled up at Sam, motioning with her eyes toward a glass of the breakfast drink as well. Sam picked the drink up with a smile. He was beginning to love the drink more and more these days.

After breakfast, they would stroll around in the park, enjoying the birds fly from overhead. Joon would look around carefully, wondering if there was a picture hidden around somewhere that she could draw at a later time. Nothing missed Joon's eyes, and she never forgot what she was going to draw. Then they would visit Ruthie in the diner for some tapioca and a milkshake. And then it was time for Sam to work at the video store and for Joon to paint back home. Their own bedroom was a masterpiece at works. Together, they decided that Joon should paint the walls herself. 

****

Joon's routine meant everything to her, Sam knew.

"Joon?" Sam asked, putting the glass down on the counter. "Do you think we should go to the park now?"

"I'd rather not," Joon said with a large smile, fishing something out from underneath the table as her smile grew wider. Sam stared at the items in her hands. A piece of lined paper and a sharp number two pencil. 

Sam sat down next to her, picking up his hat from across the table and placing it on his head. 

"Sam?" Joon asked, a bit timid for the first time. "Do you…want to?" 

Sam glanced at Joon slightly, a weak smile crossing over his lips. Lifting up his hands, he nodded slowly, reaching for the pencil and paper. 

He wrote his name across the top of the paper in large, oblong letters which slanted slightly from across the line. Next to his own name, he wrote Joon's in the same manner. 

__

"Joon. **With an 'n'? **One."

Joon smiled and placed a hand over Sam's right hand, which was planted firmly on the table. Sam, being the butt of almost all jokes back 'home', was never much for word games. Or for words at that matter. Most everyone had called him a dolt when they found out that he couldn't read or write properly. He knew words, alright. He knew the alphabet, but to string them together was a much harder process.

"Just one sentence," Joon said with a smile, tucking a strand of amber hair behind her ears.

"Okay," Sam said in the same manner, glancing up twice to see if Joon was laughing. He knew she never would. Joon would never laugh at him, but still the feeling of embarrassment was lingering from the pit of his stomach. "What do you want me to write?" 

"Anything," Joon said with a slight blush, in the same tone that she had used when they first met in the driveway of one of Benny's gambling friends. "Take as long as you want. I am quite capable of controlling my patience…for this." 

Sam glanced up one last time at Joon, her eyes dancing merrily in front of his own dark ones. Shifting his hat and grabbing his cane, he tucked the paper and pencil underneath his arm and pushed back the chair. Walking around the table, he tucked the chair back into it's original position and walked calmly towards the hallway where their bedroom was.

"Sam, where are you going?" Joon demanded with a look of confusion.

Sam turned around with a small smile, nodding in assurance. Opening the door to the bedroom, he quickly locked it behind him and settled onto the bed, words forming in the back of his mind.

Joon stared at the empty space where Sam had been sitting down only a moment ago, still completely befuddled. Of course, she had said that she would give him as much time as he needed…

Goodness, she cherished him. 

"Joon?" came the voice of Sam from the end of their hallway.

Joon stood up hurriedly and walked over to their bedroom, turning the brass doorknob and swinging it open. Perhaps Sam had changed his mind and decided that it wasn't the right time for him to learn how to read and write. No matter, Joon would be patient with him anyway. 

****

Sam's process meant everything to him, Joon knew. 

Joon walked into the room, searching around the room for Sam's face. He was no where to be found. Looking up slightly, she took a step back and gasped lightly. 

In the middle of the room, suspended from the ceiling was a long piece of colored yarn. 

Hanging from the yarn was a piece of paper, punched slightly in the middle as so the yarn could extend from it.

On the paper, scribbled in green paint were a few oblong and crooked letters. Joon took a step forward and squinted as to see what it said.

"Will yuo merry me, Joun?" 

Joon heard a slight cough from behind her and turned around slightly, mouth gaping open with a smile. Sam stood at entrance with a shy smile, his hat firmly in his hands and his cane tucked underneath his arms. 

"I…" Sam began, but was soon cut off by another mass of words.

"I didn't know you could write like that," Joon said through tears, which were now flowing in streams across her face. 

"So will you.." 

Joon answered by throwing thin arms around his neck and enveloping him in a kiss. The autumn wind blew ever so slightly, turning the paper backwards. Suspended in the middle of a mass of white paper was a single heart. In the middle, it read. "Sam and Joun". 

/ / /

Okay, it sucked. Review anyhow. 


End file.
